Preview Racing


Thermonuclear Energy Looks To Defend Las Damas Title On Saturday
Thermonuclear Energy looks to defend her Grade 3, $50,000 Las Damas Handicap at 400-yard race on Saturday at Los Alamitos.

© Scott Martinez
Thermonuclear Energy Looks To Defend Las Damas Title On Saturday

LOS ALAMITOS, CA—NOVEMBER 21, 2018—Parsons Family Limited Partnership's Thermonuclear Energy looks to defend her Grade 3, $50,000 Las Damas Handicap title when the 5-year-old mare heads a field of eight distaffers in the 400-yard race on Saturday at Los Alamitos. First post is 6 p.m.

To be ridden by Eduardo Nicasio for trainer Chris O'Dell, Thermonuclear Energy has been one of the most highly regarded mares at Los Alamitos over the past two years. She won the 2017 Las Damas convincingly, taking the lead shortly after the start and cruising to a 1-1/2 length victory over the likes of Strawfinders Jessee and Jess Mas.

Thermonuclear Energy has been outstanding for most of 2018, running second in the Grade 1 Charger Bar Handicap and winning the Ivan Ashment Handicap and Matron Stakes during the summer months.

Her only blip came on September 23 when she ran sixth as the favorite in the Grade 1 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap. The Walk Thru Fire mare will be looking to get back on track in the Las Damas with the 2019 Charger Bar likely on her radar.

EG High Desert Farms' Matilda Czech will be taking on older mares in the Las Damas. A Grade 1 standout during her freshman campaign, Matilda Czech won the Girl Secrets Handicap against fillies earlier this year and was fourth in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby on November 11. The Las Damas could serve as a launching pad to a big distaff season for the daughter of second-crop sire Fast Prize Cartel in 2019.

Jess Mas, who took on Bodacious Eagle and Heza Dasha Fire in the first division of the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials on Sunday, Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap winner Love To Reason BR, and Remember To Dash are just a few of the other top mares in the Las Damas at Los Alamitos.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.